Radioplayer, the ambitious BBC-backed internet radio service featuring hundreds of commercial stations, launched on Thursday.

Listeners can now access live streaming and on-demand content from hundreds of different radio stations – including BBC Radio 2 and Classic FM – in one place for the first time.

Radioplayer is embedded onto each radio station's website as a pop-up player. Listeners can tune in live to their favourite stations or catch up on shows they have missed. The streaming service will initially only be available online, with mobile applications for the iPhone and iPad expected to follow by the end of this year.

All of the BBC's local and national stations, as well as about 140 commercial broadcasters, are available on the service from launch. Stations owned by Bauer Media, such as Magic and Kerrang, and UTV's TalkSport will join the service later this week, taking the total number of stations available to 228.

Within a year, each of the 400 Ofcom-licensed radio stations in the UK will be available on Radioplayer, said Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of commercial radio trade body Radio Centre and chairman of the venture. Radioplayer is also likely to have a presence on YouView, the service bringing on-demand content to Freeview and Freesat households that is set to launch early next year.

The BBC director of audio and music, Tim Davie, described the industry-wide venture as a "quiet breakthrough" for the radio industry. "Eighteen months ago, the radio market was frankly lacking a bit in real innovation for the consumer," he said.

"Live listening is incredibly buoyant and has held up in a gravity-defying way – but that cannot lead to any complacency. The industry could really benefit from this kind of innovation. Traditional media has got to cope in a land of infinite choice, and this gets you really excited in radio."

Davie added that Radioplayer allows stations to compete "just as vigorously" online as they do through traditional offline listening. He said: "There will be winners and losers in Radioplayer, depending on how innovative individual companies are."

Harrison said it would benefit the entire industry, from student radio to more well-known stations.

"Every station on Radioplayer will be one click away from every other station, and listeners will have the ability to search the whole of UK radio, discovering exciting new content," he added.

Initially, only Ofcom-licensed stations will be allowed to join the platform, although it could soon be open to other independent broadcasters. The fee a stations pays to join the Radioplayer will be proportionate to its size, Harrison said.

Internet radio attracts 4.7 million listeners a week – representing 3.1% of all listening – according to last year's Rajar figures. Harrison expects Radioplayer to attract more than 3 million listeners in the first week.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook